Apparatus for removing finishes



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 2, 1954 FIG.

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l l l l l I \"II/ mvemon ANDREW E. SHUTT ATTORNEY 2,817,300 APPARATUSFOR REMOVING FINISHES Andrew E. Shutt, Normal, Ill. Application July 2,1954, Serial No. 441,104 1 Claim. (Cl. 104-48) This invention relates toapparatus for removing finishes from furniture or the like.

It is an object of the invention to provide a housing to receive thefurniture to be treated having a closure for sealing the housing andoscillating spraying mechanism within the housing for spraying thefurniture with a finish removing fluid to dissolve the finish coatingand remove the same.

A further object of the invention resides in providing a track on thebottom of the housing for supporting a movable carrier to convey thearticle of furniture into and out-of the housing, the closure of saidhousing supporting an extension for said track which alines with thetrack in the housing when the closure is swung to an open positionwhereby the closure serves as a support for the movable carrier whenmoved out-of the housing.

A still further object of the invention resides in providing a closurefor the housing having a pivoted latching mechanism for holding theclosure in tight sealing engagement with the housing and also acts as asupport for the closure, when in open position, to support the closurein a horizontal position in the plane of the bottom of the housing.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent duringthe course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and inwhich like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout thesame.

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the apparatus,

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same, partly in section,

Fig. 3 is a front end view of the same,

Fig. 4 is a front elevational view of the latching mechanism for theclosure,

Fig. 5 is a side view of the latching mechanism,

Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 6'-6 of Fig. 4,

Fig. 7 is a detail side view of the track joint in operative position,and

Fig. 8 is a view showing the position of the track joint when theclosure is closed.

In the drawings wherein for the purpose of illustration a preferredembodiment of the invention is shown, the numeral 5 indicates,generally, a housing of rectangular elongated shape having side walls 6,top and bottom walls 7 and 8, an end wall 9 and a closure 10. Thehousing is supported in elevated relation to the ground by legs 11depending from each corner of the housing.

The closure it) is pivotally connected at its lower edge, by hinges 11,to the front edge of the bottom wall 8 to swing downwardly andsurrounding the edge of the closure is a sealing gasket 12 forestablishing an air tight fit between the closure and end of thehousing. A latching bar 13 extends transversely of the outer face of theclosure being pivotally mounted in angle bars 14 vertically mounted inspaced relation on the outer face of the closure. The bar 13,intermediate its ends, is off-set to form a U-shape handle 15 and onearm of the handle is provided with an apertured lug 16 adapted toregister with an opening in one of the bars 14 to re- States Patentfilice 2,817,300 Patented Dec. 24, 1957 ceive a lock 17 for securing thehandle in closed position. Mounted on the ends of the latching bar 13are hooks 18 adapted to be swung into engagement with lugs 19 extendinglaterally from the side walls of the housing. The inner edge of thehooks is tapered, as at 20, to exert pressure on the lugs 19 when swungabout the axis of rod 13, thus drawing the closure 10 into tight sealingengagement with the end of the housing.

The bottom wall of the housing has a track composed of rails 21extending longitudinally thereof and mounted on the inner face of theclosure are rails 22 adapted to aline with the rails 21 when the closure10 is swung downwardly to a horizontal position in which position it issupported by the handle 15 of the latching bar, as shown in dotted linesin Fig. 1. To bridge the joint between the rails 21 and 22, shortsections of rail 23 are pivotally connected, as at 24, to the rails 22and the free ends of the sections are disposed in overlapping slidingengagement with the rails 21, so that when the closureis moved the railsections 23 automatically adjust themselves with respect to the positionof rails 21 and 22. A wheeled carrier 24, as shown in dotted lines inFig. 1 is movable on the rails and supports the article of furniture soit may be easily moved into and out-of the housing.

The fluid spraying mechanism consists of a series of spaced transversepipes 25 suspended from the top wall of the housing which are pivotallymounted for oscillating movement in a horizontal plane. The pipes areconnected to a conduit 26 leading to a fluid circulating pump, notshown, which supplies the finish removing fluid to the pipes underpressure. The ends of the pipes 25 are equipped with angularly disposednozzles 27 for spraying the fluid in a downward direction. The series ofpipes are connected together by a connecting rod 28 pivotally connectedat 29 to the pipes and one end of the connecting rod is pivotallyattached to a crank arm 30 attached to the shaft of an electric motor 31mounted on top of the housing. Upon rotation of crank arm 30 theconnecting rod 28 is reciprocated to oscillate the pipes 25. A sump tank32 mounted beneath the bottom of the housing collects the excess fluidfrom the housing and through conduit 33 returns it to the circulatingpump confined within the control box 34 attached to the side of thehousing. A vent 35 on the top of the housing exhausts the fumes and airfrom the housing after the finish is removed.

In use, when the closure 10 is open and the handle 15 of the latchingbar 13 is disposed at right angles to the face of the closure, thehandle acts as a support for the closure to support the closure in theplane of the bottom wall 8 of the housing. As the closure moves to itsopen position, the sections of rail 23 automatically move to a positionbridging the joint between the rails 21 and 22 to form a continuoustrack for the carrier 24 which may then be moved from the housing ontothe closure. After the furniture to be treated is placed upon thecarrier, the carrier is moved along the track into the housing and theclosure is swung upwardly to close the end of the housing. To secure theclosure in air tight engagement with the end of the housing, the handleof the locking bar is turned downwardly to swing the hooks 18 intoengagement with the lugs 19. The fluid circulating pump is then startedforcing fluid through the pipes 25 and from the nozzles 27. Theoscillating movement of the pipes distributes the fluid over the entiresurface of the furniture and after it is thoroughly Wet the circulatingpump is turned off and the blower is started to supply air in thehousing for drying the furniture after which it is removed from thehousing.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herein shown anddescribed is a preferred example of the same and changes in the shape,size and arrangement of the parts may be made without departing from thespirit of the invention or scope of the claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: Apparatus for removingfinishes from furniture comprising an elongated rectangular housing, aclosure at one 0 end of said housing pivotally mounted to the bottomwall for vertical swinging movement, track rails extendinglongitudinally of the bottom wall of said housing, a wheeled carrier forsupporting furniture to be treated movable on said track rails, trackrails extending vertically of the inner face of said closure inalinement with said first mentioned track rails when said closure isswung to a horizontal plane, the adjoining ends of said first and secondmentioned track rails being spaced apart, rail sections pivotallyconnected to said second-mentioned track rails and slidable on saidfirst-mentioned track rails for bridging the adjoining ends of saidfirst and secondmentioned track rails, a shaft rotatably mountedtransversely of the outer face of said closure having a U- shapedoff-set portion intermediate its ends, pins extending laterally from thesides of said housing at the end adjacent said closure, hooks at theends of said shaft for engaging said pins when the ofi-set portion ofsaid 4 shaft is swung against the outer face of said closure, saidU-shape portion serving to support said closure in a horizontal planewhen swung outwardly at right angles to said closure.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS697,472 Giessel Apr. 15, 1902 1,167,322 Troyer et a1. Jan. 4, 19161,312,626 Grannis Aug. 12, 1919 1,417,162 Gagen May 23, 1922 1,606,026Greundler Nov. 9, 1926 1,776,262 Noir et a1. Sept. 23, 1930 1,797,601Barr Mar. 24, 1931 1,841,900 Lunati Jan. 19, 1932 2,019,949 Brace Nov.5, 1935 2,198,306 Fisher Apr. 23, 1940 2,253,660 Tell Aug. 26, 1941 202,512,798 Hodges June 27, 1950 2,682,881 Bocchino July 6, 1954 FOREIGNPATENTS 504,090 Germany July 31, 1930

